Abstract
The colonial land tenure in Perú affected the previously existing communal system of land tenure in several ways. This new system of ownership and forced agricultural labor changed over time. However, the semi-slave condition of the indigenous peasants of Perú remained the same until the late 1960s. The Agrarian Reform started in 1969 and had an unprecedented impact on the living conditions of peasants. This article claims that the life of peasants in latifundia before the Reform had been extremely precarious due to an inexistent set of fundamental human rights. Based on an analysis of articles, interviews, testimonies, and case studies this research explores the socio-economic and political circumstances under which the Peruvian Agrarian Reform was started. Moreover, it provides instances of the positive repercussions that the Agrarian Reform has had in Perú in the realm of human rights practice.
Highlights
The colonial land tenure in Perú affected the previously existing communal system of land tenure in several ways
Mac-Lean criticizes the exclusion and disgraceful condition of millions of Peruvian peasants. He was one of many who claimed that peasants deserved to be treated with dignity. It is under such inhumane circumstances that de facto president Juan Velasco Alvarado started the Peruvian Agrarian Reform in 1969
In the short passage above, we find several words that are often present in the dogmatism of human rights, namely citizen, right, justice, and society
Summary
Once the Spaniards had conquered Perú, those who had contributed to the Spanish cause were compensated with plots of land. While showing images of Indians marching and bowing in front of an revistaidh.org elegantly dressed man, the reporter says: “Not far from this hacienda are many others where the Indians with the same heritage [Inca] are servants willing to bow down their heads in submission to the man who owns or rents them If they are unwilling to submit, they may starve slowly [...]” (CBS, 2017, 0:09-1:04). The fact that the reporter says that the landowner owns or rents these peasants reveals the condition of slavery that pertained to the descendants of the Incas.4 Since they were subjected to trade, they were reified; deprived of human rights. Gamonales took over vast stretches of land, but the lives of Indians who dwelled in or close to their domains Their right to life was subject to the will of the landowner. It is under such inhumane circumstances that de facto president Juan Velasco Alvarado started the Peruvian Agrarian Reform in 1969
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